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The foreign affairs committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee on Friday issued a statement on the military action against Iraq.
Following is a translation of the full text of the statement of China's top advisory body:
On March 20, with no authorization from the UN Security Council and ignoring the world's common wish for peace, the United States and some other countries went their own way and launched military action against Iraq. CPPCC National Committee members from all political parties, social groups, all walks of life and ethnic groups are shocked and concerned about this.
For a long period, the United Nations has made unremitting efforts to solve the Iraq issue peacefully through political means and has made positive progress.
In particular, Resolution 1441, passed unanimously by the UN Security Council laid a sound basis for the UN weapons inspectors to carry out their mission and realize the goal of denying Iraq weapons of mass destruction through political means.
When the door for peace was still open, the United States and some other countries want only used force against a sovereign country.
Those activities, trampling over the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations, set a vicious precedent for international relations in the 21st century.
The military action will not only cause humanitarian disasters for the Iraqi people, undermine the security, stability and development of the region and the world at large, but cause grave harm to the people of the United States as well.
The CPPCC National Committee firmly supports the Chinese government's stance and proposition on solving the Iraq issue. The Chinese people have been consistently committed to maintaining world peace and stability and rejecting the use or threat of force in international relations.
We are deeply worried about the condition of the Iraqi people trapped in a war. We appeal for the safety of lives and property of Iraqi civilians to be protected under any circumstances. Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and maintained.
We strongly call for the countries concerned to comply with the appeal of the international community, stop military action and continue to seek a political solution to the Iraq issue within the UN framework.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2003)
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